


Someone To Talk To.

by dsa_archivist



Category: due South
Genre: Drama, Gen, Series: Heart of the Wolf
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 1999-04-08
Updated: 1999-04-08
Packaged: 2018-11-10 20:50:52
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 8,507
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11134473
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/dsa_archivist/pseuds/dsa_archivist
Summary: A strange woman in trouble drags Dief, Fraser, and RayK with her. This story is a sequel toDief's Little Secret.





	Someone To Talk To.

**Author's Note:**

> Note from Speranza, the archivist: this story was once archived at [Due South Archive](http://fanlore.org/wiki/Due_South_Archive). To preserve the archive, I began manually importing its works to the AO3 as an Open Doors-approved project in June 2017. I tried to reach out to all creators about the move and posted announcements, but may not have reached everyone. If you are (or know) this creator, please contact me using the e-mail address on [Due South Archive collection profile](http://archiveofourown.org/collections/duesoutharchive).

 

 

Someone To Talk To...

 

These guys aren't mine, mores the pity. I'm making  
no money off of this, so please don't sue me. This story is rated G,  
maybe PG for a little violence, otherwise, reading fun for the entire  
family. Warning, this story focus mainly on Dief, and I'm afraid Ray  
V does not make an appearance yet...sorry.

{} these brackets stand for the People's language.   
*** indicates a POV change.   
*word* indicates a sound effect. 

**Someone to Talk to...**

**By Morgan Peterson**

 

 Anne was gasping for breath as she ran. 'Oh Goddess! What now? It's catching up   
with me! I can't run forever!  I'll get tired, make a mistake, and then it'll kill me. I don't   
know this city...' 

 She dodged past a few crates in the alley way, and leapt over a surprised wino. She   
didn't dare look over her shoulder at the thing chasing her. 'I just have to get a little   
further! It won't dare attack me if I can get somewhere with a lot of people. _Think_   
Anne. Where are you? And where are you going to find a crowded place an four in the   
morning?' 

 The woman fled through the narrow back lanes and twisted alleys of Chicago.   
Behind her, was a being. A killer. A thief of more than life. If it caught her, it would not   
only take her life, it would also steal her soul. 

 As she had known it would be, it happened. She ran into a dead end. 'Oh Goddess!   
Please! _Help_ me!' 

 Anne spun about to face her attacker, back to the chain fence behind her. A section   
of shadow detached itself from the mass blackness of the cramped back ally. It moved   
forward, into the faint, collective light of the city of Chicago. Anne stared, numb with   
terror at the figure approaching her. A woman, dressed as a jogger in shorts and a halter   
top, faced her. She looked perfectly normal, except for the sharp glint of the dagger in her   
hand. The woman smiled. Not really expecting it to do any good, but unable to stop   
herself, Anne screamed. 

 "H-e-e-e-e-e-e-elp!!" 

***

 Stanley Ray Kowalsky ne Ray Vecchio gave his unofficial partner an exasperated   
look. "Fraser. I can't believe you actually had an apartment in this neighborhood. It's the   
pits!" 

 Dief nodded to himself. 'I have to agree with that. I thought so when we _used_ to   
live here. I would have been glad it burned down, except that we ended up living in the   
consulate. That _really_ sucks...' 

 "Ray, there are a lot of very kind people in this neighborhood. Besides, I could   
walk to the consulate in seven minutes." 

 "Yeah. Yeah. I know. So you've said. Though why you'd _want_ to walk,   
excpecially in _this_ end of town..." 

 "H-e-e-e-e-e-e-elp!!" 

 Ray was only a few feet behind his partner as the two ran towards the scream. 

"See, Fraze? I rest my case!" 

 Dief blinked, having no clue why the two men had started running, but he was   
game for a chase if they where. He sighed. 'Here we go again.' Then ran after the two   
humans. 'The things I do for my pack...' 

***

 "You realize, of course that I'll kill you." Anne was stalling. Trying to buy a few   
more precious seconds of life. 

 "That is acceptable. _He_ wishes you dead. So, dead you will become. My death is   
an acceptable cost." 

 Anne edged away from the woman, and most excpessially the dagger she was   
holding. "You don't really want to die? Do you?" 

 The woman gave Anne a sweet smile. And lunged forward, dagger reaching for   
her heart. Anne barely managed to avoid the sharp point, and ended up with a deep slash,   
from the outside of her shoulder to her elbow. The assassin, still with that angelic   
expression, lunged again and again. Every time, the woman managed to score a hit on   
Anne, despite all the dodging she was doing. 

 "To die for my master is all I would wish. As it is all you shall _do_!"   
 Anne barely managed to twist so the dagger buried itself into her shoulder instead   
of her throat. She tore herself from her attacker's grasp, but collapsed from the sheer   
pain. The wound seemed to freeze, so cold that it burned. She glared up at the killer   
before her. 

 "I am not going to die for that emotionless, heartless, _bastard_ that you call a   
'master'! I am of the People! We have no masters!" 

 "You will." A smirk from her attacker. Anne was trapped in a corner. No more   
dodging was possible. She was going to die. 

 Anne stared at the shard of glinting murder that was driving towards her heart. 

 "Freeze! Chicago PD!" 

 The woman spun around to face the shout. Anne blinked in shock at the sight   
facing her. Of the man who had shouted, all she could see was a medium tall figure   
holding, and this was the part that riveted her interest, a gun trained on her attacker. The   
vague light glinted strangely from his glasses. Standing next to him was a tall man in a   
Mountie uniform. The red kind. _Really_ red. And a wolf. She blinked, and then cast her   
gaze up the moon, just barely visible from her prone position. 'Thanks Goddess. I owe   
you big-time...' Then the darkness engulfed her. 

***

 Dief rolled his eyes as Fraser seconded Ray's shout in his own, over socialized   
fashion. "Perhaps you could consider putting down your weapon, Miss." 

 The woman edged a little closer the to huddled shape on the ground behind her.   
Dief growled low in his throat. He could smell the coppery sent of blood, along with the   
fear of the collapsed woman. 

 The woman glared at the two men. "Do not interfere." 

 Dief growled a little louder. This lady was not normal. She smelled, well...wrong.   
Not insane, he'd smelled that often enough in his association with Fraser. There was   
something about the Mountie that just attracted Wackos. No, this was different. She   
smelled...Like snow. In the middle of an August heat-wave, this lady smelled like a   
blizzard. It was just...weird. 

 Ray, ever to the point, ignores the lady's order. "Drop the weapon, or I'll kick ya   
in the head." 

 The woman glared at the two men, and then, to Dief's shock at _him_! Most   
villains tended to ignore him unless he was snapping at their throats. 

 "You will not stop me, {taravaae}! I will fulfill my task!" 

 Dief froze, shocked beyond action. The woman had just called him by his _title_!   
In the People's language! 

 The woman spun, and lunged for the huddled figure, trying to plunge her blade   
into the unconscious girl before Ray could shoot her. She failed. Ray's bullet hit her in the   
shoulder, knocking the blade from her hands. The woman froze in mid-lunge, eerily still   
for a few moments. Then, a blast of cold wind howled throughout the alley way. Dief   
shuddered. Even through his fur, the blast was chilling. He hated to imagine what the two   
men not so blessed felt like. 

 The woman let loose with a wail that Dief could feel vibrating the ground beneath   
him, then collapsed. As Ray called in the incident with his cell phone,  Fraser rushed   
forward to examine the unconscious victim. Dief trotted over to the attacker with a very   
cautious Ray to examine the 'perp'. She was dead. Ray blinked. 

 "I didn't shoot her anyplace vital, did I?" 

 "No Ray. Why?" 

 "She's dead." 

 "Hmm." 

 Dief ignored the old 'Hmm' debate and examined the dead woman. 'Yep. Smells   
like a blizzard. Weird. Also, the bullet wound isn't bleeding. That is _not_ normal. Not   
normal at all...' 

 Dief's thoughts were sidetracked as Fraser's face came into his line of sight. "Dief?   
Could you find the weapon, please?" 

 Dief sighed. He trotted around the alley, trying to find something with the   
woman's 'winter' scent through the blood and typical 'alley' smells. Then he found it. The   
dagger had fallen a few feet away, behind a crate. It was melting. He barked, then wined. 

'This is getting too strange for me! A dagger made of ice? A woman who smells like   
snow? And recognized me as one of the People, a were-wolf? _And_ knew the People's   
language? What the hell is going on here?!' 

 "Fraser?" 

 "Yes Ray?" 

 "The dagger was made of ice, Fraser." 

 "Hmm." 

 Dief rolled his eyes again. 'Well, _some_ things are comfortingly the same...' 

***

 Anne regained consciousness in one fell swoop. 'Where the hell am I? What   
happened?' Holding perfectly still, keeping her breathing even in case someone was   
waiting for her to wake up, she tried to review the night's events. 'I was walking home   
from work. I had stayed late to work on a particularly nasty bit of code. Then I could sent   
her following me. A sharp tang of snow, like the wind off the tundra. I ran. She caught   
me. I was wounded...then? A cop? A _Mountie_? Maybe I was hallucinating, and I'm   
dead now.' 

 Anne carefully tried to identify the scents and sounds around her. 'Umm, muffled   
steps, intercom, people talking, air conditioning. Antiseptic, sterilize, and beneath that, the   
smell of sickness...A hospital. I'm in a hospital.' 

 She cautiously cracked her eyes open. The room was dark, but that  didn't really   
hinder her that much. She could see very well in the dark. 'Yup. This is defiantly a   
hospital. Even Hell would have a better color scheme than this.' 

 A woman's voice drifted in from  the hall way. "She hasn't regained consciousness   
yet, Detective. However, you can go in and see her if you like. It seems she wasn't hurt as   
badly as she seemed. Mostly shallow cuts, deep scratches, probably won't even scar." 

 Anne sighed. 'This is why I hate hospitals. Of _course_ I don't seem like I've been   
badly hurt. You can't kill a were-wolf so easily. But it still _hurts_ damn it!' 

 The door creaked open, and the sounds of two sets of footsteps. 'That would be   
the cop and the Mountie, I suppose.' 

 "Okay, Fraze. We're here. Now what do you think the unconscious girl is going to   
be able to tell us?" 

 "Oh, she isn't unconscious Ray. She's quite awake." 

 Anne just stared at the two men in shock. 

***

 Ray watched the young woman closely. He did _not_ trust this. Not at all. He'd   
only gotten the briefest of looks at the girl before the paramedics had carted her off, but   
she had looked like she had some _serious_ damage. Now she looked like, maybe, she'd   
fallen out of a tree or somthin. It was weird. Just like the rest of this case. 'This is the last   
time we go to that restaurant, I don't care _how_ good the Chinese is!' 

 The woman was about twenty-five years old or so. She was blonde, and had sorta   
greeny-gold eyes. A very weird color. She was currently staring at Fraser like he'd grown   
antlers. 

 "How'd you _know_ that?" 

 Fraser got that polite 'I'm going to explain this to you in painful detail' expression   
on his face. 'Oh boy. Here we go.' 

 "Well, Miss. When we first entered, I noticed that you're breathing was just   
slightly faster than was normal for a sleeping person, and also..." 

 She shook her head and interrupted him. "Oh yeah. You're a Mountie all right.   
Now I remember why I moved out of Vancouver..." 

 Ray blinked. "You're Canadian?" 

 She shook her head. "Nope. As of two months ago, I'm officially American. Cool,   
eh?" She smiled. Then blinked and looked around. "Was I hallucinating, or was there not   
also a wolf with you two?" 

 "Dief's in the waiting room. Hospital raises holy hell when we try and bring him   
into the sick rooms. Now, not that this isn't a fascinating conversation, but would ya mind   
telling us why that nice, dead, lady was trying to kill you?" 

 The woman shrugged. "She was insane?" 

 "You don't know?!" 

 "Nope. Never met her before this morning. It is still _this_ morning, isn't it?" 

 "Yes ma'am. You've been out for about three hours." 

 "Thank you kindly, Constable." 

 Ray shook his head. 'This is going to get 'Twilight Zone' really quick if I don't get   
things back on track.' "Would ya mind telling me a few things? Like your name, for   
starters?" 

 "Anne Hollows. I'm a computer programmer at Eternity Unlimited. I was born in   
Vancouver, went to collage in Minneapolis, and then went back home. For personal   
reasons, I moved out of Canada. Then, I arrived in Chicago just three weeks ago for this   
job. I'm twenty-nine years old, my blood type is O, I'm a Cancer, and I check 'other'   
under Religion. Anything else?" 

 "Could you give us your address, ma'am? And any family members you might   
want us to contact?" 

 Anne flinched. "My family and I aren't talking to each other right now. Except for   
my brother, and he's currently gallivanting about in the frozen mountains, watching   
Caribou. Scientists! Weird, everyone of them. And I live in a little rat-trap in West   
Rancine. Best I can do on my current salary. Besides, I can walk to work in just fifteen   
minutes. Which is necessary since I don't have a car." 

 "Right. Well, if you have any ideas, call this number." Ray handed her his desk   
number. "And don't be leaving or anything. We'll be wanting to talk to you again later." 

 Anne  grinned at him. "No problem, Detective. No problem at all." She paused,   
looking thoughtful. "Umm, and who should I _ask_ for?" 

 Ray blinked. Fraser jumped into the silence. "I'm Constable Benton Fraser, and   
this is Ray Vecchio of the Chicago PD." 

 "Vecchio? Funny. You don't look Italian." She shrugged. "Oh well." Then gave   
Fraser a questioning glance. "What's a Mountie doing in Chicago?" 

 "Well I first came to Chicago on the trail of my father's killers, and for reasons that   
do not need exploring at this juncture, remained as a liaison at the Canadian Consulate." 

 Anne stared at him. "How often have you had to use _that_ little speech?" 

 Fraser's face went a little blank as he began counting. Ray rolled his eyes. "Lots.   
Come on Fraze. We got work to do." 

 Anne waved at them from the hospital bed. "Have a good day. After all, couldn't   
get any _worse_, could it?" 

 Ray glared at her over his shoulder. "Don't bet on that." 

***

 Dief glared at the potted plant in front of him. 'This is the part of my life that   
_really_ sucks! If I'd have established myself as a human instead of a wolf, I wouldn't end   
up stuck in the waiting room, the bull pen, the car...Of course, I'd have to have those   
inconvenient things like a job and an apartment.' 

 He tracked movement from the hall. Fraser and Ray were leaving the victim's   
room. 'Right. Now we go the precinct. How Fraser is going to function tomorrow I don't   
know. It's enough to make me hope Dragon Lady has him on sentry duty. At least then he   
could sleep standing up. Not that he would. How any human could be so utterly   
responsible...' 

 Continuing his mental rant, he headed off after Ray and Fraser. 'It is really   
annoying sometimes. I just wish he'd relax a little. Do something for _himself_ and   
all...I'm talking to myself. Oh Dief, Dief, Dief. You are a sorry individual.' 

 Sighing over his current isolation, the were-wolf jumped into the back seat of   
Ray's car. 'I wish I had someone to talk to...' 

***

 Anne stood at the window of her hospital room, and watched the two men and the   
wolf drive off. 'I wish I had someone to talk to...I need help in this, but I don't dare   
involve them. The Shards wouldn't quibble about harming innocents. I don't want them to   
be killed trying to protect me. Or arrest me, for that matter. Either one is probably equally   
possible. And why on earth did that Detective look vaguely familiar? Oh well. Probably   
just one of those subconscious association things.' 

 Anne collected her clothes from the closet. 'They said not to leave town, but I   
don't really intend to. What would be the point? The shards could find me anywhere. I   
might as well stay in Chicago. However, I need to leave the hospital. I can't stay in one   
place for long, or they'll catch up with me. One might be dead, but there are more where   
she came from. The only way I'm going to stop the shards is to stop their 'master'.' 

 Anne's breathe hitched in pain. 'Oh Goddess. Why do I have such lousy taste in   
men? The first guy I really love, and he turns out to be a demonic, insane, megalomaniac   
bent on murder. And I thought my room-mate in collage had a bad track record. At least   
she could get restraining orders. Hell, at least all her mistakes were _human_ lunatics!' 

 Anne centered herself, and walked out of the room. Holding legitimacy around her   
like a cloak, she strode quickly off down the corridor. 'Humans can be so easy to fool. I   
hardly have to use any power at all. Look and act like you belong, and they think you do.'   
Anne exited the hospital, and slid into a darkened alley. 'Geeze. I wish it were still dark...I   
could change and try hiding out as a wolf. Oh well. It's now about eight in the morning. I   
have about ten hours till moon rise. I'd best use them in getting as far away from here as I   
can.' 

 Leaving barely a ripple in flow of foot traffic on the street, Anne vanished into the   
human sea of Chicago. 

***

 Ray just stared at Mort, so shocked he didn't even attempt to avoid looking at the   
corpse of the attacker. "Okay. Could you run that by me once more?" 

 "She had no heart." 

 "None." 

 "None." 

 "So how was it she was walking around and attacking computer programmers in   
alley ways?" 

 "I have no idea." 

 "She had no heart?" 

 "Just a large lump of ice. Melted ten minutes after I removed it." 

 "A lump of ice? That, that is really weird." 

 Ray blinked as he realized that Fraser was being awfully quiet. "Yo? Fraze? What   
do you think about this?" 

 "Ray? Did Ms. Hollows look familiar to you?" 

 Ray just blinked. "No. Not really. Other than that 'Thank you kindly' thing   
reminding me of you. Why?" 

 "Hmm." 

 "Fraser. I hate it when you do that. 'Hmm' seems to be Canadian for 'I know   
something really important and I'm not gonna tell you what it is'. So, what'd ya mean by   
'Hmm'?" 

 "Oh, nothing really, Ray." 

 "Aaggh. Fraser, you're the most irritating man on earth." 

 "Understood Ray." 

 The two men listened to the rest of Mort's discoveries, which weren't nearly as   
surprising as the first. Other than the whole heart thing, there wasn't anything really   
unusual about the lady. Of course, the heart thing was a pretty big 'other'. 

 "Yo. Frannie? You got an ID on the stiff?" 

 "Geeze Ray, you ever hear of these things called 'manners'?" 

 Ray smirked. "Francesca, sister dear, did you find out the identity of our mystery   
corpse?" 

 "Ray, you are a mutant. And no. She has absolutely no records. There was no   
identification on her. No license, no credit card, not even a wallet. Zip." 

 "So, what we got here is a woman, with no heart, no money, no credit, and no   
record of her existence, who was wandering around the city trying to kill people?" 

 "Pretty much." 

 "Frannie, you're supposed to be _helping_ here..." 

 "I did get something on the victim though. Anne Hollows. She was born in this   
really eccentric religious commune or something. Really isolationist. All sorts of rumors of   
what goes on there, but no confirmed wrong doings, and the whole thing is private   
property, so the Canadian government just sorta puts up with 'em. Anyway, since they   
ditched and moved out, Canada's been keeping a really close eye on Ms. Hollows and her   
brother Johnthan, isn't that a weird spelling? Anyway, a few months ago, she disappears,   
like just vanishes into thin air. And then they find this dead body in her old apartment. And   
guess what? The corpse didn't have any ID, or a heart. Same thing." 

 Ray stared at Francesca for a few seconds, then grabbed Fraser by the arm and   
took off for the door. "Come on Fraze! She probably bailed right after we left. I'm gonna   
get some answers from this lady if it's the last thing I do!" 

 Francesca glared at the Detective's rapidly disappearing back. "Geeze! Don't say   
'thank you' or anything!" She went back to her desk, muttering, "Jerk!" 

***

 Dief watched as Ray and Fraser examined the empty hospital room. Ray seemed   
_quite_ upset. "Damn it! Not a single trace! She didn't leave a thing." 

 Dief sighed. That wasn't quite true. _He_ could smell her sorrow, fear and   
determination even now, hours after she had left the room. Along with something else. 

'This woman was one of the People. And I am an idiot for not noticing earlier.   
Admittedly, the circumstances were a bit distracting, but still...' 

 "Ray? Can we go to the consulate for a few minutes?" 

 "Why?" 

 "I believe that there might be something in my father's journals about 'the People'   
that Ms. Hollows mentioned in the hospital room." 

 "And..." 

 "For Ms. Hollows to know so much about an insular and secretive people implies   
that she is one of them. Besides, it couldn't hurt to know..." 

 "Right. Lets go." 

 Dief sighed. 'Leave it to Robert to actually _know_ something about the People...' 

***

 Ray glared at the door to Fraser's office/room. 

 'I can't _believe_ I let that lady out of my sight! She's probably half-way to   
Mexico by now...' 

 His thoughts were interrupted by Dief growling low in his throat. A woman's   
voice drifted out to Ray from past Fraser's startled frame. 

 "I've been waiting for you two. You know, Constable, you should really start   
locking your window. There are a lot of unscrupulous people in Chicago." 

 Ray just stared at the woman facing them in disbelief. She had come to them.   
Voluntarily. Of her own free will. This was getting _really_ weird. 

 "Look, lady. I want to know what's going on, and I want to know _now_!" 

 Anne opened her mouth to answer, and then her jaw dropped even farther. Her   
face went pale, and her eyes got huge. She looked like someone had just smacked her in   
the back of the head with a board. Ray followed her startled gaze. She was staring at Dief.   
He was staring back. 

 'What on Earth?' 

***

   
Anne had to throttle down the undignified squeak that was trying  
to emerge from  
her throat.

 'A {tavaraae}?! Oh goddess! What is a _Shaman_ doing _here_?! With a cop and   
a Mountie?! Oh dear. This was going to be difficult enough...' 

 "Excuse me, Ms. Hollows? Could you perhaps explain a few of the more puzzling   
mysteries that your attack has left behind?" 

Anne shook off her shock. "Let me guess, you found out about the heart thing, right?" 

 "Yeah. You could say that! How is it that a chick with no heart was attacking you   
in an alley-way? And your apartment?" 

 Anne sighed. He was going to be stubborn about this. She had a feeling that she   
was either going to really _like_ this 'Ray' guy, or else hate his guts. At the moment, she   
was leaning towards the later. 

 "Oh my, Detective. Don't forget the one on the train that I had to jump out of, the   
one in my _new_ apartment, and most recently, the one in the garbage dump on 53rd. I   
wouldn't want you to miss any." 

 "Huh?" 

 "These things will keep attacking me. For every one I escape, there are three more   
to take her place. I was attacked twice since leaving the hospital. Soon, they'll start   
descending in droves. One I can escape, five I can't. I didn't want to get you involved.   
The Shards wouldn't hesitate to go strait through you to get to me. But...I don't have a   
choice. Not anymore." 

 "Her?" 

 Anne shook her head. Leave it to a Mountie to ask an irrelevant, but important   
question. "All Shards are female. There never has been a male one. Not in all our   
remembered history." 

 "Why?" 

 Anne sighed. "There's a story among the People. About the Ice Demon. The Lord   
of Storms. My nurse used to tell it to me as a bedtime story." She laughed, almost bitterly.   
"Some bedtime story..." 

 Ray scowled. "Would ya answer the question already?" 

 Anne scowled back. This guy was being _really_ obnoxious... "I _am_, if you'd   
just shut up and _listen_!" 

 She watched a silently fuming Ray, and an attentively listening Fraser. Most   
especially, she watched the wolf-who-was-no-wolf. 'A {tavaraae}. In Chicago. What on   
earth would his reasons be...? Besides 'none of my business', of course...' 

 "Anyone want to interrupt again?" 

 Silence. Anne nodded, satisfied. "The gist of the story is something like this: Once,   
in the beginning times, when all the peoples lived in peace with the world and each other,   
before the great rifting of the tribes, a tribe of the People lived in the lands of ice and   
snow.'" 

 She gave Ray an arch look. "That's the Northern Territories, in case you're   
wondering. Anyway,  in these lands, there also dwelled {Randalen} The Ice Demon, Lord   
of Storms. And he looked down upon the tribe of the People from his mountain of ice, and   
envied them. For the People could do what he could not. They could _feel_. Love, Hate,   
Joy, Sorrow, all these and more they could experience. But he could not. For he had no   
heart. So, he sent his storms to find him a member of the People, so that he could learn   
how to feel." 

 Anne could feel her voice drifting into what her brother called her 'Storytelling'   
mode. She couldn't help it, really. She had been the Storyteller before she had left the   
family...She really hated this part of the story too. It had given her nightmares when she   
was a child. And now, she was living those nightmares. 

 "I remember this part quite well. It made quite an impression on my six year old   
mind. The storms found a woman of the People, no one will speak her name now, and   
brought her to the Ice Demon. I can quote this bit, actually. 'And the winds dragged her   
forth, around, and through the air with great speed. And her chest was as ice, and her   
blood as frozen fire. Within the storm, she could hear voices screaming, and they pierced   
her to her heart. And she wept, and she wept, and weeping, was brought before the   
Demon.'" 

 Anne shook her head, trying to clear it of remembered terror, of remembered   
sorrow. She really hated this story... 

 "Anyway, to make a long story short, the woman couldn't help the Lord of Storms   
learn to feel. Because he had no heart, you see. So, he took hers. He stole her heart, and   
placed a chunk of frozen ice in it's place. He put her heart in a crystal box, and said to her,   
'Now you are mine. You will kill when I say 'kill' and die when I say 'die'. You belong to   
me for so long as the snows fall, for so long as there is a winter.' And so it was. Thus was   
born the first Shard. Heartless, soulless killers. They do as their 'master' tells them. And   
he has told them to kill me." 

 Anne bowed her head. She was fairly sure that the wolf would believe her. He was   
{tavaraae}, the People's version of a shaman. He knew the story of the Ice Demon just as   
well as she did. But the two human men? She quietly awaited their reactions. 

 Ray stared at her for a few moments. Then he grabbed Fraser by the arm and   
dragged him into the closet with only a " 'Scuze us for a minute." 

 She cast a doubtful glance at the {tavaraae}. 

 {They have absolutely no clue I can hear them perfectly well from here, do they?} 

 Dief shook his head. {No.} 

 {Figures. Do they know about you?} 

 {No.} 

 Anne raised an eyebrow. {You're a man of few words, aren't you?} 

 Dief gave her a wolf-grin. {Yes.} 

 Anne laughed a little. 'For a priest, he has a sense of humor.' {Do you believe   
me?} 

 {I'm not the one who matters. Fraser is. If he believes, we'll all end up doing what   
he wants. You included. He has a gift for that.} 

 Anne tilted her head to the side and started to listen to the closet conversation in   
earnest. Ray had been venting his spleen about her apparent insanity for the last few   
minutes. Fraser had finely interrupted. 

 "Ray, Ray, Ray, Ray, _Ray_!" 

 "_What_ Fraser?!" 

 "I believe her." 

 "What?" 

 "I believe her. She was telling the truth. Or at least _she_ believes she's telling the   
truth." 

 "So, what do _we_ do about this? You want me to tell Welsh we got a bunch of   
undead, assasin-sicles trying to ice a computer programmer? And most of all, _why_? I   
mean, what'd she do to get them sicked on her in the first place? Eh?" 

 Anne took a deep breath, preparing to answer that question. Then paused, inhaled   
deeply again, testing the air. Between the scent of leather oil and ink and people, she   
scented something else. Something cold. A tang of ice off a tundra, the flurry of snow   
before a storm. She smelled a Shard. 

 Anne shot a desperate look at Dief, then sprinted over to the window and leapt   
through it. Sticking her head back through, she addressed Dief. {The lake, tonight.} 

 The last thing she heard as she fled down the fire escape was the sound of a door   
being blasted open. 'Please...let the Shard chase _me_! Let those two have the good sence   
to leave it be...Please, let them be all right.' 

***

 Anne stood nervously in the woods near the lake. She was sniffing the air,   
constantly testing for the scent of Shards. 'Where are they? What happened? Did they get   
hurt? Oh goddess, I hope not. It would be all  my fault...' 

 "Anne?" 

 She leapt half a foot. Standing before her was the Mountie, the Detective, and the   
{tavaraae}. Anne grinned. 

 "Oh! You're all okay! I was worried. Shards are good at gratuitous murder... 

 "Oh, she was gonna try, but for some reason, Dief scared her." 

 Anne blinked at Ray. 'Oh. Yes, as a {tavaraae}, I suppose he would scare them.'   
 "Huh." Anne shrugged. "You learn something new every day..." 

 Fraser sighed. "Ms. Hollows? May I ask a personal question?" 

 Anne shot him a cautious look. "Ye-e-e-s...?" 

 "Do you think Ray looks familiar in any way?" 

 Anne just blinked at him. "Well, yes. A little. Why?" 

 Fraser gestured to the lake. "If you would follow me?" 

 The Detective and the girl exchanged a baffled look, and followed the Mountie to   
the lake. He gestured them to stand next to each other. "If you would look at your   
reflections?" 

 Anne shrugged, and looked. And looked again. She shot a startled glance at Ray,   
and then looked at the reflections again. "Hey?! You  look like me?!" 

 Just as Ray said, "What're you doing with _my_ looks? Eh?" 

 Anne raised an eyebrow. "Excuse me? My hair is better for one thing! Yours   
looks like you were attacked by an unfriendly weed-wacker." She paused. " You wouldn't   
happen to have a Hollows in your blood line somewhere, would you?" 

 Ray shot her a disgusted look. "No." 

 Anne raised her eyebrows. "Hmm." 

 Ray  looked at her incredulously, and Fraser looked somewhat pained. Anne cast a   
glance at Dief. _He_ was laughing at her. {What?! What?! What'd I say?} 

 {Believe  me. You don't want to know...} 

 "Excuse me, Miss Hollows?" 

 "You have a question, Constable?" 

 "Several, actually." 

 "Fire away." 

 She watched as the Mountie tilted his head to one side, looking puzzled, and   
opened his mouth, as if to comment. She sighed. "It's a figure of speech. I meant 'start   
asking'." 

 "Oh.Well, the first question would be..." 

 "What the hell'd ya do to get this guy ticked off at ya?" 

 She raised an eyebrow at Ray. "You _sure_ we aren't related? You're just as   
irritating as my little brother...Anyway, it's...well...he's sorta my ex." 

 "Huh?" 

 "I beg your pardon, Miss?" 

 *questioning bark* 

 Anne fiddled with a button on her shirt. "Well, Dalen and I were dating. I mean,   
really, he seemed like a nice enough guy! He was handsome, and quiet, and really   
_listened_ to everything I said. I thought things were going good. Then one day he says   
'You haven't taught me what I needed, failure is unacceptable.' and tried to rip my heart   
out of my chest! Can you blame me for freaking out a little? I mean I've heard of abusive   
boyfriends, but I think that's a little extreme..." 

 "What do you believe his motive is, Miss Hollows?" 

 "Well, I personally believe he's the Ice Demon, and  I escaped 'Shard-om' by a   
hairs' breadth. But if you have a more reasonable theory for the heartless assassins, I'm   
willing to be convinced..." 

 "No. No, with the present information, I'd have to agree with your conclusion." 

 *Affirmative bark* 

 "You're both crazy." 

 Anne grinned. "But I notice you're still here...Who's crazier, the crazies, or the   
one who's following 'em?" 

 Anne watched Ray scowl at her, a grin on her face. He really _did_ remind her of   
her little brother. Of course, when kids come in litters, you end up with a _lot_ of   
siblings... 

 Ray  had finally decided to ignore her. "So, how do ya get rid of the ice maidens?" 

 "Well, I've always just run away, and let Dalen's temper take 'em out. After all,   
it's the easiest method. Him and his 'failure is not acceptable' attitude. Can I pick 'em or   
what?" 

 "So, why do you think we can help?" 

 "I don't know. I just don't know. You're what the Goddess sent, and I never look   
gift rescuers in the mouth." Anne considered that phrase. Somehow, it sounded really   
weird. "That didn't come out right...Anyway. You're what I got. You must be able to help   
somehow." 

 She carefully avoided looking directly at Dief. Who was staring intently at her. Ray   
sighed. "Well, where are you staying at the moment?" 

 "Umm, wherever I collapse?" 

 "Come on." 

 "Where are we going?" 

 "My apartment." 

 Anne blinked. 'Huh. Seems our Ray is a big softy at heart.' She recalled her earlier   
musings on whether she liked or hated him, and grinned. 'I think the scales just tipped to   
'like'. 

***

 Ray watched as Anne seemed to carry out an earnest conversation with Dief.   
"Geeze. Those two are really getting along, aren't they?" 

 "Well, Ray, Diefenbaker has shown a preference for attractive, blond women..." 

 "Yeah? I hadn't noticed." 

 "You were somewhat distracted at the time..." 

 "Oh." 

***

 {So, he actually jumped _onto_ the train. While it was moving. With a _bomb_ on   
board?} 

 {Yes.} 

 {Is he insane? I mean, you expect that sort of thing from a Mountie, but a _cop_?} 

 Dief gave a lupine shrug. {Don't ask me, I'm just the sidekick.} 

 She shook her head. As Alice had said, 'Curiouser and Curiouser...'. Anne looked   
up and smiled at the two men in the living room. "I wonder if I could stop off at my   
apartment for some things...?" 

 Fraser shook his head. "Oh no, Miss Hollows. I fear that your apartment is   
probably being watched. However, if you'd make a list, I'd be glad to get the things for   
you." 

 Anne blinked, and tried to envision the Mountie purchasing some of the stuff she   
had in mind. She shook her head. "On second thought, I can live without..." 

 Dief was laughing at her again. {Oh, shut up you!}She looked at the laughing   
wolf. 'Hmm, not a bad looking specimen.' { I bet he'd be adorable as a human.} 

 She blinked as Dief stopped laughing, and seemed to be embarrassed. 'What   
on...Oh dear. Did I say that out loud?' 

 Anne blushed. {Well! You _would_!} 

***

 Fraser and Dief had gone for take out, and Ray had gone to check out a   
'suspicious' person. Anne sighed. 'He was probably just trying to get away from me. I've   
been in here for a day or so, and he's probably heartily sick of my company.' 

 She blinked as a feeling, like someone had walked over her grave, rushed over her.   
'What...? Oh no. Ray's in trouble. I just know it!' 

 Anne slipped out the door, and started to track down the Detective. 'Come on   
nose! Don't fail me now!' 

***

 Dief's gaze went from the rapidly vanishing Anne to his concerned Mountie. He   
gave the lupine version of a sigh. {I suppose you want to follow her.} 

 "Yes, I am going to follow her. And don't look at me like that. You want to as   
well, and you know it." 

 Dief blinked. Every once in a while, it seemed that Fraser could pick up what he   
was saying...Nah. Must just be coincidental. He _had_ been around Dief for a good many   
years, he probably could pick up the body language. Yeah...So why was it the Mountie   
only got sarcastic with _him_? Couldn't Ray pick up a little of the slack... 

 Dief trotted off after his fellow were-wolf , still casting confused looks at his   
friend, as they slipped into the darkness. 

***

 The trail led to _her_ apartment. She entered with trepidation. She had a _bad_   
feeling about this. She whispered into the darkness of her apartment. "Ray? Ray? Where   
are you? Is Fraser with you? Dief? Anyone? Hello?" 

 Ann flinched as a voice came out of the darkness. "Hello Anne. We've been   
waiting for you, haven't we detective?" 

 Anne reached for the lights with a trembling hand. The single fluorescent bulb   
illuminated a chilling scene. Literally. The room was frosted over like the inside of a   
freezer. A dark haired man was standing in the middle of the room, holding Ray hostage   
with a sword. A real, honest to goodness sword. Anne shook her head. 

 "Oh honestly, Dalen. Swords went out of vogue a couple centuries ago. Get with   
the program!" 

***

 Ray shot the woman a slightly panicked glance. 'Sure!' he thought, 'Irritate the   
man with a sword to my throat. What do I care? Weirdo. Between her an Fraze...This was   
not what I expected when they said 'Hey Ray? Ya want to be someone else for a year or   
so?' Geeze!' 

 "I've always been a traditionalist." 

 "You mean 'anal retentive stick in the mud', don't you?" 

 "Anne, you've always been too sarcastic for your own good health." 

 "Never could take a joke, could ya?" 

 The Ice Demon shrugged. "I'm afraid I don't have much in the humor   
department." 

 "Yet another thing we have that you don't, eh?" 

 Ray could feel the man behind him almost vibrate. He was almost glad he couldn't   
see the man's expression, judging from Anne's white-faced look, it was scary. What was   
even more terrifying to Ray, was the complete lack of anger in the man's voice. He wasn't   
angry, enraged, or even irked. _That_ worried him. 

 Anne seemed to have recovered. Her pale look had slumped into deep sadness.   
"You don't even hate me. I loved you. I hate you now, but you don't even _care_! You   
_can't_ care!" 

 Tears were welling up in Anne's eyes. "You're trying to kill me, worse than kill   
me! The least you can do is _care_! You could at least frown a little or something!" 

 The tears overflowed. Her green-gold eyes were fixed on the face behind Ray. Ray   
doubted that she even noticed him there anymore. 'Oh, man! I hate Domestic Disputes!   
Too much drama for me...' 

 "I can't hate you. I can't love you. You couldn't teach me." 

 Anne looked incredulous. "_I_ couldn't teach _you_?! Did it ever occur to you   
that _you_ can't learn?! I mean, you seem to be working under this delusion that you can   
learn to feel. Well you can't! Because you _won't_! You don't really want to! Because   
that would mean leaving your safe, cold, frozen world! You'd have to get out into the real   
world, and start feeling pain with the rest of us! And you won't do that! Because you're   
afraid! The one thing you're good at! Being a coward!" 

 Ray could feel the man's muscles tense. "That's not true! It's your fault! It's the   
fault of all of you! None of you could teach me! None of you really cared!" 

 Anne's face darkened. Her eyes, still sheened with tears, seemed to suddenly   
ignite. Her face twisted, hate in every line of it. Her voice was almost a growl. "Don't you   
_dare_. Don't you dare say that. I loved you. I still do, even after all you've tried to do to   
me. I love you. I hate, but I love you. And I'd bet the others did too. And what did you do   
for them? You trapped them into living death. You froze them into your cold, empty life,   
because you were terrified to join them in their warmth! You're a coward! A fool! And   
you will be alone in the empty, iced-over wasteland you call a life for eternity!" 

 Ray wasn't prepared for the Demon's reaction. He found himself flung against the   
wall, hard enough that he saw stars. When he could focus again, he saw the Demon and   
Anne standing chest to chest, Dalen's sword protruding from her back. 

 She slid off the sword, to collapse at the Demon's feet. Ray felt an invisible fist   
clench around his heart. 'Oh no. Oh God, he's killed her.' 

 She looked up at the Demon, and to Ray's shock, stood. She was holding her arm   
to her chest, and losing blood with every breath, but she stood. 

 Ray stared in shock. The woman had taken a sword _through_ her chest, and kept   
moving. Oh, she didn't _look_ too good, and she wasn't moving very fast, but she was   
_still_ moving. That was not normal. 

 The dark haired man raised an eyebrow. "Oh dear. I forgot. I suppose I should   
have used something silver, eh?" 

 Despite the fact that she was losing few pints of blood a  minute, Anne gave him a   
sharp toothed grin and wheezed : "Dalen, Dalen, Dalen. Getting forgetful in your old age?   
Millennium catching up with you? Shame, shame, shame..." 

 Ray's eyes were the only things moving. 'Shit. What the hell is going on here?' 

 The Demon shrugged. "So sue me. I forgot about your 'dual' nature. It's hard to   
envision you furry..." 

 Anne raised an eyebrow. "I'm told I make an attractive wolf." 

 Dalen smiled, and shrugged again. He turned to face Ray. "You're in luck   
Detective Vecchio. You get to watch the show before you die. I'm afraid that Anne is   
going to miss the best parts..." 

 "Dream on! For one thing, all cops know that Domestic Disputes are the worst   
things to get involved with, _Randalen_ , and second, I don't intend to miss a thing." 

 "Intend or not, I never lose." 

 "There is a first time for everything!" 

 Ray sighed. "Anne? An explanation?" 

 "This is my ex. His name is Randalen. Dalen for short. He's an nasty, heartless,   
loveless, bastard of an Ice Demon. Dalen, this is Ray. He's a Detective." 

 "Nice to meet you." 

 Ray blinked. This was getting surreal. "Yeah. Sure. Whatever." 

 "Give up Anne. You're going to live with me forever, whether you like it or not.   
You can do this with your soul, or without it. Be flattered, you're the first ever to actually   
get a choice." 

 "I think I choose Death." 

 "What?!" 

 "Death. I'd rather die than spend eternity with you." 

 "You said you loved me." 

 "And I still do. You, however, are completely incapable of anything resembling   
emotion. Unrequited love sucks, dearest. I refuse to put up with it for forever. Forever is a   
l-o-o-o-ong time, ya know." 

 Dalen actually looked irate. "Well, if you want to die, why the hell are you putting   
up such a fight?!" 

 "Because love, I'm taking you with me. I'm not going to die all by myself. You   
know I hate being by myself. I am after all, a pack person at heart..." 

 Ray's eyes were caught by a faint movement behind the Demon. A pale haired man   
in jeans and a flannel shirt was edging silently around the two combatants. Ray's eyes   
widened as he realized that Anne was trying to keep the Demon's attention on herself. 

 "And how are you intending to 'take me with you'?" 

 Do you know what my calling was? When I was still _welcome_ among the kin   
and kind, I mean?" 

 "Storyteller." 

 "Right. Do you know why our People have a Storyteller?" 

 "You're primitive?" 

 Anne raised an eyebrow at his smirk. "If we're primitive, you're primeval. No. The   
Storyteller serves a very important purpose in the pack." 

 As she spoke, she limped closer and closer, leaving a trail of her own blood behind   
her. She moved slower, and slower, but she moved. Until she was standing right in front   
of the Demon. Her lips almost touched his. He was blinking down at her, intrigued by her   
lack of fear. 

 "What purpose is that?" 

 She smiled up at him. "We're a Distraction." 

 He blinked, and then whirled around. Too late. Ray watched as the strange man   
pounced on the Demon. Anne pulled something from the Demon's belt. It was a strangely   
shaped, three-bladed dagger. She knocked the stranger out of the way, and plunged it into   
the Demon's chest. 

***

 Anne stared into the eyes of the man she had been in love with. For the first time   
ever, she saw an emotion in his face. Randalan was terrified. She smiled sadly down at   
him. "I do love you. So I'm giving you what you want. Feeling." 

 She yanked out the blade. Clasped in the center of the tri-bladed dagger, was a   
large chuck of ice. She watched as the Demon screamed, and flashed into so much steam.   
She stared numbly at the ice in the dagger, then looked across the way at Diefenbaker. 

"Oh dear. He evaporated." 

 Dief shrugged. "Actually, to go from a solid to gaseous state is sublimation." 

 Anne swayed. His slightly flat voice was buzzing in her ears and everything was   
starting to get swirly and grey at the edges. "I think..." 

 Darkness swept over her. Anne collapsed. 

***

  Dief watched as Ray ran over and checked her pulse. He watched the   
Detective's face fall as he detected none. "Don't worry. She'll be fine in a bit." 

 Ray glared up at him. "She's dead." 

 "Your point?" 

 "Who the Hell are you?" 

 "Baker." 

 "Baker what? Or what Baker?" 

 Dief just grinned, then pointed down at Anne's body. Ray followed his gesture in   
time to see the woman's chest heave as she gulped in a deep breath. The air hissed out of   
her in a rather nasty spate of cursing. Lucky for Ray he didn't understand a word of it,   
Dief figured one of them blushing fire-engine red was enough. 

 Anne blinked up at a confused Ray. Dief smirked as the first words out of Ray's   
mouth were : "Anne? You were dead." 

 She sighed. "I don't suppose you'd believe I'm an immortal?" 

 "Anne, that Dalen guy pretty much _said_ you were a were-wolf." 

 "Ray. Please, promise me you won't tell anyone about this. Not even Fraser. He   
can't lie to save his life. I mean, can you imagine my life if the government found out   
about me? Can you say 'scientific guinea pig'?" 

 Dief watched the expressions cross the Detective's face with amusement. 'She   
does damsel in distress quite well. He'll promise. He never could resist pretty women   
begging him for help...' 

 "_Please_ Ray!" 

 "Okay, geeze I promise!" 

 Anne flung her arms around him. "Oh _thank you_!" 

 "Hey! No blood on the jacket, please!" 

 "Sorry." 

 Dief slipped out of the room. Ray had things in hand, Fraser was about three   
seconds away, and life was sweet. 

***

 Ray watched incredulously as Fraser cast a chiding glance at the contrite wolf at   
his feet. "You couldn't have at least left a _trail_ to the apartment?" 

 *wine* *bark**wimper* 

 "That's no excuse. Next time, let me know. Ray shouldn't have to face things like   
that without back up." 

 *wimper**wimper**yip* and a tentative tail wag. 

 "Well of course I forgive you. You are my friend. I was just worried." 

 *bark**bark* 

 "Okay, then." 

 "Fraser?" 

 "Yes Ray?" 

 "Do you really understand what Dief is saying?" 

 "I get the gist, yes." 

 "Fraser, you are a weird person." 

 "Understood Ray." 

***

 Anne's opened her eyes, and immediately thought better of it. "Damn. It isn't fair.   
I feel like a morning after, without even having a night before. Rude, life. Very rude." 

 "Well, it's better than the alternative..." 

 She searched her mind for a face to match the unfamiliar voice. 'Let's see. It's a   
nice voice. Sorta velvety. Also somewhat flat. Why...She squinted up, and resolved the   
speaker into Diefenbaker. 'Oh. That explains it. He's deaf, after all... 

  He was dressed in jeans and flannel. She grinned. 'Probably has to borrow clothes   
from the Mountie. It was either him or Detective Grab-bag...' 

 "Oh. Hi! I thought I saw you right before I died, but I wasn't sure." 

 He gave her a wry smile. "You might want to check out room occupancy before   
blurting out stuff like that, or your secret will be on the front of the Inquirer tomorrow   
morning." 

 Anne whipped her head around, looking for other people in her room. There were   
none. She glared up at the grinning man. "You schmuck! What should I call you when   
you're upright, by the bye?" 

 "Baker. One of the benefits of a _really_ long name, eh?" 

 She grinned. "Told ya you'd be hot as a human." 

 He actually blushed. She grinned. 'He's nice, balanced, of the same genetic   
background, and most of all, employed...I have to get back in the dating waters   
_somewhere_...' 

 "Hey?" 

 "Yes?" 

 "You want to go for a drink sometime? When I get out of here, that is? We   
could...talk." 

 She extended one hand in his direction. He gave her a weighing look. Then smiled   
and placed his hand in hers, holding it steady. "Sure. Someone to talk to?" 

 Anne smiled. She had a feeling that she wasn't going to be alone anymore. She   
nodded. "Someone to talk to." 

**The End-For Now...**

****

* * *

Hi! This story is the first in a seiries called "The Heart of the Wolf".  
I figured that Dief is a sorta neglected character. <G> Any and all  
C&C is welcome. The address is  
. I'd apprciate any advise you want to give. This is my first _real_  
story, so please correct any OOC's you might find.  
      Thanks for reading ^_^

 


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